Event Details

DESCRIPTION
About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change

more

Event Details

DESCRIPTION

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be visible in improved financial conditions for start-ups fostering innovation, employment and social stability in the region. Outputs and results of the project will benefit crowdfunding platform operators as well as small and medium sized enterprises by increasing their competences.

What does donation-based Crowdfunding mean?

Money is obtained on a donation basis from several individuals and businesses but nothing is returned to those who give the money. The big difference to conventional donations, however, is that the donor (here called backer) is informed in detail about the project and the use of the funds. Often donation crowdfunding is most successful among charities and non-profits. Some services invite people to donate to projects for the pleasure of giving. Philanthropy based services usually have other benefits such as tax credits or rebates.

Agenda

16:30 an introduction of our speakers and the EU project Crowd-Fund-Port

There will be time allowed for questions and answers with each presenter. The webinar (16:30-17:30) will be of particular interest to public authorities, project partners, platform operators and stakeholders. This event is organized by CONDA Crowdinvesting, in partnership with Crowd-Fund-Port Central Interreg Project and funded by the Interreg programme of the European Union.

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be

more

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be visible in improved financial conditions for start-ups fostering innovation, employment and social stability in the region. Outputs and results of the project will benefit crowdfunding platform operators as well as small and medium sized enterprises by increasing their competences.

What does reward-based CF mean?

…is where individuals donate to a project or business with the expectation of receiving a non-financial reward in return, such as goods or services at a later stage. A common example is a project or business offering a unique service (rewards) or a new product (pre-selling) in return for investment. This form of crowdfunding allows companies to launch with orders already on the books and cash-flow secured (a major issue for new business) and gathers an audience before a product launch.

Agenda

16:30 an introduction of our speakers and the EU project Crowd-Fund-Port

There will be time allowed for questions and answers with each presenter. The webinar (16:30-17:30) will be of particular interest to public authorities, project partners, platform operators and stakeholders. This event is organized by CONDA Crowdinvesting, in partnership with Crowd-Fund-Port Central Interreg Project and funded by the Interreg programme of the European Union.

Organizer

Event Details

DESCRIPTION
About Crowd-Fund-Port Interreg Project:
The project focus is on economically weaker businesses with fewer opportunities, which do not have access to bank loans, but which would start business ideas

more

Event Details

DESCRIPTION

About Crowd-Fund-Port Interreg Project:
The project focus is on economically weaker businesses with fewer opportunities, which do not have access to bank loans, but which would start business ideas through crowdfunding. Outputs and results of the project benefit crowdfunding platform operators as well as small and medium sized enterprises by increasing their competences. Crowdfunding investors profit from increased safety by a better understanding of benefits and risks, and policy makers gain increased decision-making competences.

In this webinar we will present in particular the current situation and challenges within donation-based Crowdfunding topics mostly in Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Italy.

What are the future steps of equity-based crowdinvesting platforms?

Definition of equity-based CF:
It’s a variation on the crowdsource model that allows the general public to purchase shares in an existing business or a startup.

Why Blockchain?
“The introduction of blockchain infrastructure is the next logical step to take crowdfunding to the next level.” (Paul Pöltner)
Future projects will be presented in an Ethereum-based blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This should be designed as a platform-independent, transparent and trustworthy infrastructure.

Agenda

16:30 an introduction of our speakers and the EU project Crowd-Fund-Port

16:45 Johannes Mayer from CONDA- representing “Crowdinvesting on the blockchain”

17:10 Martin Gruber from Digital Blocks- representing topic tbd

17:30 Q&A

There will be time allowed for questions and answers with each presenter. The webinar (16:30-18:00) will be of particular interest to public authorities, project partners, platform operators and stakeholders. This event is organized by CONDA Crowdinvesting, in partnership with Crowd-Fund-Port Central Interreg Project and funded by the Interreg programme of the European Union.

Time

Location

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be

more

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be visible in improved financial conditions for start-ups fostering innovation, employment and social stability in the region. Outputs and results of the project will benefit crowdfunding platform operators as well as small and medium sized enterprises by increasing their competences.

In this webinar we will present in particular the current situation and challenges within the EU legislation.

Agenda

16:30 an introduction of our speakers and the EU project Crowd-Fund-Port

There will be time allowed for questions and answers with each presenter. The webinar (16:30-17:45) will be of particular interest to public authorities, project partners, platform operators and stakeholders. This event is organized by CONDA Crowdinvesting, in partnership with Crowd-Fund-Port Central Interreg Project and funded by the Interreg programme of the European Union.

Time

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be

more

Event Details

About Crowd-Fund-Port:
The project aims thus to improve skills and competences of all relevant stakeholder groups to prepare them for taking advantage of the crowdfunding phenomena. Change will be visible in improved financial conditions for start-ups fostering innovation, employment and social stability in the region. Outputs and results of the project will benefit crowdfunding platform operators as well as small and medium sized enterprises by increasing their competences.

What does reward-based CF mean?

…is where individuals donate to a project or business with the expectation of receiving a non-financial reward in return, such as goods or services at a later stage. A common example is a project or business offering a unique service (rewards) or a new product (pre-selling) in return for investment. This form of crowdfunding allows companies to launch with orders already on the books and cash-flow secured (a major issue for new business) and gathers an audience before a product launch.

Agenda

16:30 an introduction of our speakers and the EU project Crowd-Fund-Port

There will be time allowed for questions and answers with each presenter. The webinar (16:30-17:30) will be of particular interest to public authorities, project partners, platform operators and stakeholders. This event is organized by CONDA Crowdinvesting, in partnership with Crowd-Fund-Port Central Interreg Project and funded by the Interreg programme of the European Union.

Klaus Buchroithner runs the streetwear label Vresh and with his campaigns he regularly makes it into the headlines of various newspapers and online magazines. With his Vresh Box he attracted investors to finance his independent label by rewarding them with a special edition of individually designed T-shirts and a small, symbolic stake of his company. With his “Zuckerberg shirt” he even gained international media coverage by promoting a basic grey shirt, very similar to the one Mark Zuckerberg is wearing all the time. And for the production of his Vresh Jeans he turned to Crowdfunding and ran three campaigns, two of them successful. In an interview he told us his story and how Crowdfunding helped him boosting his fashion start-up.

Crowd-Fund-Port: You are running your fashion label Vresh for several years now. Please tell us more about it and how everything started?

Klaus Buchroithner: Vresh is a sustainable streetwear label. From 2019 we will exclusively produce basic styles from organic and recycled materials in cooperation with small family businesses in the EU. I have been working in the textile business for more than 12 years and everything started with the crazy idea of my brother, opening a Skateshop in our small city of Eferding/Austria. Soon it developed into a textile wholesale business with which we distributed international brands in Austria and Hungary. During my school time I took over the shop and opened a second shop in another city. Since the support of the brands was often bad for small retailers like me and the margin was too small, I decided to establish my own brand in the end of 2012 and do a lot better.

Crowd-Fund-Port: You are producing jeans for almost a year and a half. The first series was financed with Crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Why Crowdfunding?

Klaus: In my opinion, Crowdfunding is a perfect tool for launching a new product on the market. You can’t expect to raise a huge sum without your own community and engagement, but if you’re willing to invest some time and money, you get good feedback from the market, some pre-orders that you can convert into long-term customers and generally a lot of attention.

Crowd-Fund-Port: How did you prepare for the first Kickstarter campaign back then?

Klaus: I’ve been following the topic of Crowdfunding for quite some time and looked at many campaigns and researched the background. There is a lot of reading material on the Internet now and of course the consulting appointments with you (note: the interview was conducted by Crowd-Fund-Port partner Wolfgang Gumpelmaier-Mach of ikosom.de/Crowdfunding-Service.com) were also very helpful. External consulting helped us to implement the project better. For example, we re-recorded our video after some people in our community suggested improvements.

Klaus: Basically, you can’t expect too much from the individual platforms. That was certainly better a year or two ago. They can give you a good boost, but most of the work you have to for yourself. Our failed campaign on wemakeit was no coincidence. We launched the campaign about a month too late, and then the temperature rose unusually strong. It’s very difficult to sell jeans at summer temperatures, even if you deliver them in September. That was certainly a great learning for me – starting the campaign during the season and not before.

Crowd-Fund-Port: To what extent did this experience help you in planning and implementing your last (third) campaign on Indiegogo and why did you crowdfund jeans again?

Klaus: We concentrated on the essentials and offered a product that already worked well the first time. This time we took the feedback of the first campaign and adapted the product accordingly. Only the change from Kickstarter to Indiegogo was a mistake. We already had 200 satisfied customers on Kickstarter, they probably would have been ready to buy. A new account on a (for the user) unknown platform is a big hurdle, especially in Austria and Germany – combined with the payment method credit card. But because we already had some experience, we knew on which channels it would be worthwhile to be present during the campaign and that’s how we pulled this off in the end.

Crowd-Fund-Port: I know you work a lot with your community and let them participate in the process of creation. Is that your secret recipe?

Klaus: That is definitely a very important part for our success. We are currently trying to find ways to involve the community even more actively in branding and try creating a stronger bond. Especially for small independent labels like ours this is essential.

Crowd-Fund-Port: Do you see Crowdfunding as an essential part of your (communication) work?

Klaus: It is definitely a good instrument, especially if you offer innovative products. For us, such a campaign can always be the market launch for a completely new product segment. You get a lot of attention and see whether something is working or not.

Crowd-Fund-Port: What’s coming next? Will there be more Vresh-Crowdfunding-campaigns?

Klaus: I can imagine bringing an entire collection onto the market by pre-selling it via our own website. The parts that sell well are added to the collection and if they don’t work, they’re not getting produced.